Letter: Readers discuss vulnerable students, Travis Kelce’s injury and Republican hypocrisy
Help all kids
I was a special education teacher in the Shawnee Mission School District for 14 years. I often wished I could find someone to whom I could express my concerns, but there is a firmly affixed hierarchy in the district, and when I tried, no one cared about my concerns.
There are too many special ed kids on each teacher’s caseload. This means there are too few teachers. There are too many kids in the classrooms, and the desks are so crowded it is difficult to maneuver to get to the special ed kids and stay out of the other kids’ way.
The expectations are such that it is impossible to keep the special ed kids, with their many learning differences, close to the classroom and district expectations.
As long as the budget keeps getting cut and staff keeps getting stretched, parents will continue to be unhappy.
Value teachers, value kids and invest our money in the future.
Ann Terry
Shawnee
Winning change
I’m a new resident of Kansas City and recent fan of the Chiefs. I’ve read the articles in The Star recounting the team’s monumental playoff failures, including Saturday’s debacle against the Titans.
Although new to the area, I’m not new to football. I’ve played, coached and announced all levels of the game since 1968. In looking at NFL franchises, I’ve concluded one thing: Ownership is the most important aspect in determining a team’s long-term success. NFL teams are top-down organizations, and the owners set the tone for a team’s success or failure.
With the Chiefs, the one common element in all their playoff appearances has been the Hunt family. Coaches, general managers and players have come and gone, but the owners have remained the same.
If the fans really want a consistent winner, it’s time they request the Hunt family sell the team to a proven winner.
John Shean
Kansas City
Kelce’s injury
Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon was slammed into artificial-turf-covered concrete by a Green Bay Packers defensive lineman in November 1986. The defensive player was ejected and high-fived by teammates, as you can see on YouTube.
After the body slam, McMahon never seemed to return to form. He had led the Bears to a Super Bowl victory in the previous season.
The National Football League has begun to grudgingly acknowledge the devastating brain damage players suffer, especially from helmet-to-helmet hits at high speed when receivers are in vulnerable positions.
More than 30 years after McMahon’s injury, Chiefs fans saw star tight end Travis Kelce take a brutal, high-velocity helmet-to-helmet hit as he was tackled Saturday.
Officials ignored the second defender’s hit. There was no penalty. Concussed, Kelce could not return to play.
The NFL’s tinkering with rules to protect vulnerable players is half-hearted public relations gloss.
The league must suspend players until their injured victims return after cheap shots such as leading with their helmets or slamming players to the turf.
I ask football fans and especially Chiefs fans to call, write or email the NFL to demand a “Kelce Requirement” or a “McMahon Rule.”
Lyndall Caldwell
Overland Park
I’m still numb from the Chiefs’ continued abject failure since 1970 and the high blood pressure they’ve caused me.
I think the NFL should eliminate the Titans’ Johnathan Cyprien from further competition for his intentional and crushing head blow to Travis Kelce. And I’m shocked that no ultimate decision-makers have even mentioned it.
Winton Sexton
Independence
Forgotten outrage
On Monday’s op-ed page, right-wing radio host Hugh Hewitt decries Democrats’ conduct in the Senate. (7A, “The Democrats’ outrageous conduct is a Senate crisis”)
What have those nasty Democrats done? They have somehow, even though in the minority, not confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Germany.
Hewitt omits two points: First, the Trump administration has failed to nominate anyone for more than 30 ambassador posts (a significant percentage of the total.)
Second, and most glaring, he makes no mention of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s and the rest of the Senate Republicans’ failure to do their job by refusing to give President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland so much as a hearing in 2016, blocking the president’s legitimate nominee for almost a year, and finally forever.
Spare us the selective outrage, Mr. Hewitt.
Scott Gregory
Roeland Park
This story was originally published January 9, 2018 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Letter: Readers discuss vulnerable students, Travis Kelce’s injury and Republican hypocrisy."